The Next Highlands and Islands Fibre Broadband Rollout Areas Named

The Highland and Islands Enterprise (HIE) in Scotland has today announced the next batch of areas that will benefit from their on-going work to make BT’s “high-speed fibre broadband” (FTTC/P) network available to 84% of the region’s premises by the end of 2016.

The effort is part of the wider £410m Digital Scotland project, which is constructed in two halves; one focusing upon the “Highlands and Islands” region (£145.8m of public and private investment) and the other working to connect the “Rest of Scotland” (£264m).

Overall the scheme aims to roll-out to cover 95% of Scottish homes and businesses by the end of 2017/18 (reaching an additional 750,000 premises by completion), yet the target for the Highland and Islands region alone is still just 84% by the end of 2016. Work is already under-way to develop a new contract, but aside from a few hints of progress (here) we still haven’t seen a concrete plan.

Never the less today’s update confirms that more than 122,000 extra premises across the Highlands and Islands now have access to faster broadband speeds thanks to the project, with Sullom Voe in Shetland, Dores at Loch Ness and Connel in Argyll having most recently gone live.

Other local communities are now set to follow by this Autumn 2016 (this date is tentative and thus subject to change), including John O’Groats in Caithness, Tankerness in Orkney and Castlebay in the Outer Hebrides. The full list is below.

Latest areas where work is starting between now and the autumn

Some of these areas have already been announced as work having started, but it will see additional roll-out during this period (marked as Infill).

Coverage for a further 1,500 homes and businesses in Argyll and Bute

Appin, Barbreck, Bowmore, Coll, Craignure (Infill), Dervaig, Jura, Kilfinan, Kilmore, Lochgoilhead, Port Askaig, Portnahaven

Coverage for a further 2000 homes and businesses in Highland

Carron (Infill), Dornoch (Infill), Durness, Fort William (Infill), Gairloch, Garve, Golspie, Invershin (Infill), John O’Groats, Kilchoan, Kinlochewe, Kishorn, Portmahomack (Infill), Shieldaig, Tongue

Additional coverage of almost 300 premises in Moray

Buckie (Infill), Findhorn (Infill)

Additional coverage for over 1,000 homes and businesses in Orkney

Kirkwall (Infill), Tankerness

Additional coverage of over 600 homes and businesses in the Outer Hebrides

Castlebay, Eriskay, Northbay

Current coverage – this is the coverage only through the programme – not the total for the local authority area. In some areas there is additional commercial coverage.

Shetland more than 6,500 across 8 areas latest – Sullom Voe, Weisdale and Sandwick

Orkney more than 6,000 across 9 areas latest – Deerness and Evie

Outer Hebrides more than 6,000 across 10 areas latest Callanish and Leverburgh

Highland more than 58,000 across 69 areas latest Dores, Kyleakin in Skye

Moray more than 27,000 across 20 areas – Carron, Kingston and Garmouth

Argyll and Bute more than 15,000 across 20 areas – Connel, Carradale and Tobermory

N Ayrshire more than 2,500 across 7 areas – Corrie